Russell Hyken, Educational licensed psychotherapist, discusses if parents should fight in front of their teens.
While parents should never have knock-down, drag-out fights in front of their adolescents, delaying disagreements can also be potentially detrimental to emotional development.
A heated discussion of appropriate intensity and length are growth-promoting opportunities for parents of teens. It’s healthy for kids to learn that any two people who spend a significant amount of time together will experience conflict. It’s how one handles the disagreement that differentiates acceptable arguing from harmful hollering.
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Model appropriate communication strategies and resolution skills. Keep voices low, as yelling escalates the situation. Demonstrate listening by engaging in appropriate turn-taking exchanges.
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What parents argue about is almost as important as how they argue. Certain topics such as intimacy, money, addiction or how to raise the children should only occur in private.
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End your arguments properly. Keep discussions short and resolve the conflict. Sometimes this will mean agreeing to disagree.
This article is reprinted with permission by Russell Hyken Ed.S, M.A., LPC, NCC, CEP, CPE For more information and the full article, please visit Russell’s website: http://www.ed-psy.com